Sorting machine



Sept. 21, 1937. R, E, PAGE 2,093,573

soRTING MACHINE Filed D00. 12. 1934 Patented Sept. 21, 1937 UNITED sTATEs PATENT oFFicE i sommo MACHINE Ralph E. Page, Binghamton, N. Y., assignor to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application December iz, i934, serial No. 157,087 4 claims. (o1. isz- 127) in transit to be left in the chute blade making it necessary for the operator to come and Aclear the machine before gathering the cards from the 16 pockets.

It is anV object of this invention to provide auto- I matic means for clearing all cards from the chute blades before stopping the machine after the hopper has become empty.

It is another object of this invention to provide a time controlled circuit breaker -for holding the machine in operation for a predetermined time after. `the hopper has become empty.

Another object of the invention is to provide 25 Va thermostatic controlled device for continuing the sorting machine in operation for a predetermined time after the hopper has become empty.

Various other objects and advantages of my invention will be obvious from the following particular description of one form of mechanism embodying the invention or from an inspection of `the accompanying drawing, and the invention' also constitutes certain new and novel features of 85 the construction and combination of parts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the drawing: Fig. 1 is a wiring diagram showing the circuit of the machine.

40 Fig. 2 is a section through hopper showing details of the part of the invention. 4 l

Fig. 3 is a detailed view of card lever contacts in the machine taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

The present invention may be used in connec- 45 tion with various types of orting machines but for the purpose of illustration and explanation the preferred embodiment has been chosen as the machine shown and described in Patent No. 1,684,389 dated September 18, 1928. A full and 60 detailed description having been given in that patent it will suiiice to give a very general explanation of the sorting machine for a clear understanding of the operation.

Referring to Fig. 2 which shows a section of one` end of a sorting machine such as described in Patent No. 1,684,389 in which a hopper 5 is provided for receiving a stack of cards 6 which are to be sorted into various pockets in the machine, one of which is shown at l. The cards used may be of the well-known Hollerith type in which 5.

index point positions are perforated in the card.

The cards are fed, one at a time, from the bottom of a stack by a picker 8 which is oscillated back and forth by means of an arm 9 connected to a crank I which is fastened to an eccentric Il 10 which is rotated by means of gearing from the drive shaft 2l of the machine (Fig. 3).

The cards are fed -to feed rollers I2 which bear on a contact roll I3 which is permanently connected into a circuit by a spring contact I4 bear- 15 ing against it. A brush I Abears against the upper surfacev of the cards as they pass by and when said brush encounters a perforation it makes a contact through said perforation with the contact roll I3. 'I'he brush is mounted in a`brush 2o holder I6 which is movable transversely of the machine for selecting any column of the card for sorting. As 'the card is fed forward the leading edge of the card passes under successive ends I1 of chute blades passing these ends in synchro- 25 nism with the passage of the index point positions on the card by the brush I5, so that the edge of the card is at the entrance of the chute leading to the pocket 'I corresponding to the index point position on the card that is at the time under the brush, thus if a perforation is encountered the brush I5 makes contact with roll I3 which energizes a magnet I8 which allows the chute in front of the leading `edge of the card to open and receive it in a manner fullydescribed in Patent No. 1,684,389. The card is then carried along the chute bya series of feed rollers 20 until it has reached its selected pocket. The feed rollers are all operated from the drive shaft 2I of the machine through suitable gearing. A card lever contact is provided for keeping the machine in operation when once it has been started as long as cards are being fed. This contact is shown in detail in Fig. 3 in which a spring blade contact 22 is held 1 in a normally open position. l

An arm 23 having an insulated end rests against one lspring blade of the contact 22. The arm 23 is fixed to a lever 24 which is pivotally mountl ed to a bracket 25 fixed to the side frame member 26 of the machine. into a cam-like extension extending a little above the plane of movement of the card as it is fed between feed roller I5 and contact roll I 3. The arm 24 has a tendency to rock clockwise due to gravity but is held up by the spring blade of con- 'I'he opposite end 21 is formed 50 tact 22. As a card is fed through the machine, however, it strikes the upper surface of the camshaped end 21 rocking the arm24 clockwise and closing contact 22 until the last card has passed the cam 21 at which time contact 22 opens. In the machine described in Patent No. 1,684,389 the opening of this contact stoppedthe machine immediately, leaving the chute blades full of cards in transit that had not yet reached their destination and requiring an operator to come to the machine and clear it by pressing the start key of the machine. In order to overcome this there has been provided a double set of spring blade contacts which are mounted underneath the hopper base 29 and insulated therefrom (Fig. 2). The lower spring blades 30 are provided with an insulated space member 3|. A plunger 32 made of suitable insulating material is slidably mounted in an aperture of the base 29 and rests on the upper spring blade 30. A Weighted plate 33 is placed on top of the stack of cards 6 and this plate is provided with a counter sink 34 which registers opposite the top of the plunger 32 so that when there are no cards in the hopper the plunger32 extends into the counter sink 34 by virtue of thel spring blades 30 pressing said plunger upward and at such times the contacts 28 are closed. When cards are in the hopper however the plunger is pressed down as shown in Fig. 2 and the contacts 28 are held open.

Referring now to Fig. 1, it will be remembered that when cards are in the hopper andthe machine started contacts 28 are opened. Assuming cards are now placed in' the machine and a sorting operation is to be initiated. 'I'he start ky is depressed closing contacts 36 and thereby copipleting a circuit from a source of power 31, switch"l 36, which has been closed, wires 38, 39, 40, start contacts 36, relay magnet 4|, resistance 42, relay magnet 43, wire 44 to the other side of the supply line. Relay magnet 43 is energized closing its contacts 45 and establishing a circuit through the` driving motor M as follows: Supply line 31wires 38 and 46, motor M, relay contacts 45, wire 44 to the supply line. 'I'he motor having been started the cards are fed as previously described causing card lever contacts 22 to be closed, thus establishing a stick circuit and permitting the start key to be released The relay magnet 4| having been energized, a circuit is established as follows: From supply line 31, wires 38, 39, 40, 41, card lever contact 22 (now closed), stop contacts 48, contacts 49 (now closed), relay magnet 4|, resistance 42, relay magnet 43, wire 44 and back to the supply line. Thus relay magnets 4| and 43 are both held energized as long as cards are passing by the card lever and holding card lever contacts 22 closed. The sorting operation is the same as described in Patent No.`1,684,389`in which the cards pass under brush I5 and in which a.

commutator 58 is provided having conducting spots 5| which are'wiped by a contact 52 and which are synchronized with the passing of the index point positions on the card past the brush |5 lso that as each index point position passes the brush |5 `one of the spots 5| makes contact With the brush 52.

The purpose of this is to take the arcing due to the break in the current away from the brush. When the brush encounters a perforation in a card a circuit is completed as follows: From supply line 31 to wires 44, relay magnet 53, wire 54, brush 5, contact roll |3, contact brush I4, wire 55, commutator brush 52, conducting spot 5|,

`commutator ring 55, brush contact 56, sorting magnets I8, wires 51, 39 and 38, to supply line 31. Relay contact 58 closes and shunts out the brush I5 so that the circuit is broken finally at the commutator.

When the cards are completely fed out of the hopper and the last card passes the card lever, card lever contact 22 opens but the hopper having been emptied contacts 28 close as previously described. A new circuit is now set up around the card lever contacts 22 to keep the machine in operation and feed all cards remaining in the chute blades to their destination. This circuit is as follows: From supply line 31, through wires 38, 39, 40, 59, contact 28a (now closed), bimetallic element 60, contact 5|, wire 62, contact 48, relay contact 49, relay magnet 4|,.resistance 42, relay magnet 43, Wire 44, and back to the supply line. The bimetallic element 60 is surrounded by a heating coil 63 and this combination constitutes a thermal unit which is designed to open contacts 6| at a predetermined time after the heating coil 63 becomes energized. Thus when contacts 28 (Fig. 2), which are the same as 28a and 28h (Fig. 1) and which always open and close together,- close, a circuit is established through the coil 63 as follows: Supply line 31, through wires 38, 39, 40 and 59, contacts 28a, bimetallic element 60, contacts 6|, wire 62, contacts 48, relay contacts 49, heating coil 63, contacts 28h, wire 44 and back to the supply line 31.

The heating coil now heats the bimetallic element 60 at a predetermined rate so that after a period of a few seconds the bimetallic element bends due to the difference in the co-eiilcient expansion of the two elements and causes contact 6| to open, thus breaking the circuit through relay magnets 4|,and 43 and stopping the machine. The delayed time in the opening of contact 6| after contact 22 has opened and contacts 28a and 28h have closed is suincient to keep the machine running long enough to clear the chute blades and conduct all cards to their respective pockets. The bimetallic element and its associated heating coil may be of any suitable type of thermostatic relay which are old and well known in the art. Such devices can be adjusted to act for any set predetermined period of time.

While the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a single modification have been shown and described and pointed out, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes inthe form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of -the invention. I intend to be limited therefore only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. In a machine of the character described, in combination, a card magazine for holding a stack of cards, means for feeding cards of the stack successively out of said magazine, operating mechanism for said feeding means, a control de- `vice operable upon failure of the feeding means to feed cards from the stack to immediately intercombination, a card magazine for holding a stack of cards, means for feeding cards of the stackA successively out of said magazine, operating mechanism for said feeding means and a plurality of interrupting devices for interrupting the operation of said operating mechanism comprising an interrupting device effective only upon failure of. the feeding means to feed cards from the stack only While cards are in said stack to immediately interrupt the operation of `said operating mechanism and a second interrupting device operable only after feeding the last card from said stack to interrupt operation of the operating mechanism onlyafter a predetermined time has elapsed after the feeding of the last card.

3. In a machine of the character described, in combination,y a card magazine for holding a stack of cards, means for feeding cards of the stack successively out of said magazine, operating mechanism for said feedingmeanS, and a plurality` of interrupting devices for interrupting the operation of said operating mechanism comprising a device for* immediately interrupting the operation of said operating mechanism uponfailure of the feeding means to feed cards from the stack 'and a device for rendering said rst named device ineffective after feeding the last card from said stack, said last named means effecting interruption of the operating mechanism after a predetermined time interval following the feeding of said last card from the stack.

4. In a machine of the character described, in combination, a card magazine for holding a stack of cards, means for feeding cards of the stack successively out of said magazine, operating relay, the operation of said time delay relay reni dering the operation of said first mentioned contact device ineffective and to cause interrup- 20 tion of 'said operating mechanism only after a predetermined time delay.

RALPH E. PAGE. 

